Lisa McPherson in the News

After spending half her life as a member of the Church of Scientology, Lisa McPherson told friends she was ready to get out. She hoped to visit them at Thanksgiving and vowed to be home for good by last Christmas. But on Thanksgiving a couple of weeks later, McPherson was at the Fort Harrison Hotel, Scientology's world spiritual headquarters, taken there Nov. 18 by Scientologists for "rest and relaxation." Seventeen days later, she was dead.

After spending half her life as a member of the Church of Scientology, Lisa McPherson told friends she was ready to get out. But on Thanksgiving a couple of weeks later, McPherson was not at home. Instead, she was at the Fort Harrison Hotel, Scientology's world spiritual headquarters. She was taken there Nov. 18 by Scientologists for "rest and relaxation." Seventeen days later, she was dead. An autopsy by the Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner's Office showed McPherson's 5-foot-9, 108-pound body was severely dehydrated, her arms and legs were bruised, her skin was cracked and scaling.